By: Kristina Renee
What do you do when you have been in a season of long suffering longer far past the timeline you expected? What do you do when you feel the pulling and stretching of your faith like a rubber band? Ready to break and snap at any moment. The heart stretching, heart suffering moments of this walk with Jesus. Those are the moments the perfect fruit of patience is tested; it’s like taking a test and praying that you pass. Let me tell you, I have been there and could write a whole book on it. The patience of waiting on God for a breakthrough or to see His hand move on your circumstance is like you’re playing a game of chess. Waiting for God to make his move. The past few years for me have been just that. I make a move then peek around the corner or look for evidence of God’s next move in my life and every time I get impatient, I remember that His love endures forever. He always makes the first move; Jesus made the first move.
Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” The Book of Galatians shows how Christ came to bring freedom, not bondage to a set of laws (NIV Bible Glossary). As the fruit of the Spirit continues to grow and renew in us daily, we start to see more evidence of Jesus living within us and through us. Patience is not a fruit that I have completely mastered and probably won’t until I see him face to face. But, God in his gracious love and mercy is consistently pruning and let me tell you, it hurts. Jesus says in John 15:2, “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” ESV. God wants us to bear much fruit; abundance of fruit to be ready for when our Bridegroom comes. To share the fruit with others to be a witness. Through the pruning and the long suffering (defined in Greek as patience, endurance, consistency, perseverance, steadfastness). God will produce the freshest of fruit in me. My Spirit will gladly share with others as they see the love of Jesus within me. Romans 5:3-5 says, “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Whatever you are waiting for the Lord to do, whatever is testing your patience, it may seem like you have been waiting for eternity. But let me tell you, Jesus is calling you closer to him to endure the race before you. We really aren’t waiting for the promises that God is going to give us, but the promise of Jesus when He returns one day.
Questions:
What circumstances or situations does God have you waiting on and for and how has it produced the endurance you need to run your race?
How do you see God bearing fruit in your life while enduring the wait and being patient for your promise?